Recently, there has been a remarkable increase in multimedia functions, such as high resolution color displays, digital image transmission, video transmission, and the like, in electronic devices. Examples of electronic devices include mobile phones, cameras, pagers, personal digital assistants, video recorders, and the like. Supporting the multimedia functions requires internal data communication in the electronic devices. For example, in a mobile phone, a base-band portion may need to communicate with a flip portion of the mobile phone, to support a camera function. Similarly, the electronic device may require to communicate with an external device for the transfer of data. For example, a mobile phone may require to send a multimedia image to another mobile phone.
There are various communication technologies available for providing internal data communication in the electronic devices. These internal data communication technologies use wireless or wired means to enable communication. Wireless means include optical communication means, Infrared (IR) communication means, and the like. Wired means include copper cables built in multilayer flex cables to provide parallel signal transmission, copper cables built in simple flex cables to provide serial signal transmission, microcoax cables for providing serial and parallel signal transmission, and the like. However, the copper cables built in multilayer flex cables may cause electromagnetic interference. Further, these copper cables also have a large number of connection pins, which may cause mechanical failure at mechanical joints. Similar to multilayer flex cables, simple flex copper cables may also cause electromagnetic interference. The microcoax cables may wear out due to movements at the mechanical joints. In addition to all these limitations, the existing wired and wireless means providing internal data communication in the electronic device do not provide means for external data communication between the electronic device and any other external device.
External data communication technologies for transferring data from the electronic device to any other external device include radio frequency (RF) based technologies such as ZigBee, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Ultra Wideband (UWB), and optical communication based technologies such as Infrared Data Association (IrDA). Most of these external data communication technologies are regulated and are prone to interference. Moreover, the existing external data communication technologies do not provide means for internal data communication within the electronic device.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.